Unexpected Love (White Oak-Mafia #2) (12 page)

Steel sighed. “Okay, then I’m glad for the clause, but if Tess doesn’t voluntarily delay getting the degree she’s overqualified for, I’m in serious trouble.”

“Then plan for it. Hire people better than you need for the slots. All the salaries are twenty percent more than any park in this country, so you can be choosy.”

“I’ll talk to Tess. She’ll be hiring her staff.”

“Tell her why you need them to be overqualified. That might get her to volunteer.”

“That’s good advice. I’ll approach the topic tomorrow.”

“Be sure you do, because according to her plan, she’ll submit her second staff requirements tomorrow.”

“Her second. She’s already made a submission?” Shouldn’t she have at least mentioned that to him?

“Yeah, the four people with the competency to run the GPR, the ERM, and the magnetometers. You know about this.”

Steel rubbed his head and laughed. “I do. I didn’t realize you required paperwork to get that done.”

“Honestly, I planned to sort that stuff out later, but Tess called my assistant an hour after our conversation and got downloads of every request form imaginable. I had the completed request forms before I called four very good men I’ve had my eye on.”

Steel frowned. “So you’re doing my hiring?”

“Not at all. I’m loaning you four men overqualified for the jobs requested. Unlike normal candidates, these you get to try out for two months. If you don’t like them, I’ll take them back. They are technically on loan to you from Harper Ferry.”

“You trust them?” Steel asked, worried they might sabotage his work rather than help.

“Absolutely,” he stated. “I would never jeopardize this site. In fact, I’m willing to piss several people off to ensure you have good help immediately. But after this, you are going to need to complete paperwork, interview candidates, and get them on the payroll all on your own. On these four, if you want them, I’ll do the paperwork from here.”

Steel groaned. “God, I feel like a jerk. You have gone out of your way to help me, and I’m getting annoyed at stupid issues. I’m sorry, Tom. I should be kissing your ass for all you’ve done for me.”

He chuckled. “I don’t trust or like people who kiss my ass. And your reaction was reasonable. It always pissed me off when the prior governor would send me resumes of unqualified people to staff my parks.”

“So when can I expect these guys?” Steel asked.

“Well, Harper Ferry insisted they can’t run their state park without a full staff, so I’m doing a major sleight of hand. I’m taking four rangers from each park and shuffling them about to other sites for two months. Their mission will be to exchange ideas and improve practices. Only four of the lesser sites will only get three rangers so Harper Ferry will remain fully staffed.”

“But the four I get I can keep if I want or give some of them back if I’m not satisfied?” Steel asked.

“Yes, your four are different. I’m just hiding that from their current boss. They are hoping to be hired because I’ve promised them the work, the salary, and the boss are all an upgrade.”

Steel smiled. “Well on that happy note, let me say they can’t have a better boss than I do.” After thanking him once again, he hung up and collapsed on the bed. His thoughts turned to Tess. He mulled over ways to get her to give up her education on her own.

He woke a few minutes later when an urgent hand shook his shoulder. He stared at Tess’s worried face.

“What’s wrong?” He sat up and gripped her hands.

“Grams is gone.”

“Gone? Gone where?” The poor old woman could hardly walk yesterday.

“I don’t know. She…she might be in the woods…or maybe my father has taken her.”

“Taken her where?”

“To a hospital so they can make her live in pain as long as possible. He’d do that in a second. Only, he isn’t supposed to know about this area of the house. She should have been safe here.”

Steel pushed out of bed and dressed. When he turned to ask Tess another question, he realized she’d left.

He hurried out to the hall. “Tess?” He walked to her room and opened the door. For a moment, he got an eyeful of beautiful breasts before Tess turned her back to him.

“Sorry, I’ll wait in the kitchen,” he said and closed the door. Those perky breasts with dark-hued nipples were now permanently lasered into his brain.

God, she was perfect for him in all ways.

Desperate to change his thoughts, he went to Helen’s room, knocked, and then entered. The room was neat and tidy. Nothing out of place except a white envelope resting on the pillow. He lifted it and read Tess’s name. He took it with him as he headed to the kitchen. Tess opened her door and blushed at the sight of him.

He held up the letter. “I found this on Helen’s bed pillow.”

She grabbed and opened it in one swift motion. Upon reading the note, her legs gave out. Steel snared her before she fell, then carried her back into her room where he placed her on the bed. He sat down beside her and teased the crumpled letter from her hands.

Tess,

I stayed as long as I dared and longer than my body wished. I’ve no idea if I can reach the mounds in my current condition. That’s where I want to die. If I can’t make it, then look for me in the woods between here and there.

If I have any say in my next job, I will try my hardest to become your guardian angel. But just in case I get recycled at once, allow me to give you one last word of advice: Don’t lose the one true friend you have left. No matter how much you hurt and miss me, do not push Steel away. He’s a good man…better than any I’ve ever met, and he loves you.

I know you fear your father and what he might do, but Steel is not some nobody who can disappear without notice. Although he doesn’t put on airs, he’s got powerful connections. If your father threatens him, you tell Tom, and he’ll contact the Secret Service. Under no circumstances are you to send Steel away, thinking that will make him safe. The two of you need each other. Whatever you face will go better if you stand against it together.

Now, to my departure. Rest assured, given the number of painkillers I possess, I have died peacefully. I won’t tell you not to grieve because I know you will. But hopefully, you will find some peace in the knowledge that I died on my own terms in my own way. I had a good life and, with the help of a handful of very good people, I managed, against all odds, to save these woods and give you the chance for a good life with a good man.

So I leave this earth feeling very proud of myself and of you. Now everything I’ve ever loved is in your hands. Be strong and focus on your wonderful future.

With all my love and more,

Grams

Steel sniffled as he finished the letter. “Do you want me to find Helen? We might be able to stop her?”

Tess shook her head. “This is the way she wants to die.”

Steel focused on the part that said she wanted to die on the mounds. “I doubt she could make it up the hill.”

Tess sat up. “I agree.” She met his eyes. “Will you help me find her and take her there?”

He opened his mouth to object that the mounds were now an archeological site, but he couldn’t. Not with Tess in such pain.

He nodded, and she rewarded him with a quick hug before she rushed from the room.

He followed behind her. When Tess grabbed the carrier, he found his voice. “We don’t need it. I can lift her.”

She ignored him and ran out the door with the carrier. Steel cursed softly, grabbed his backpack, and followed.

The sun had barely risen. Running full speed, he couldn’t catch up with her. Certain Helen lay somewhere on the side of the trail, he slowed so he wouldn’t pass her body.

After walking a half mile without finding her, he became convinced Helen must have collapsed at the very first of the woods, so he turned around and headed in the direction of the cabin.

Tess just wasn’t thinking straight. Poor girl was devastated.

And needed him.

He gave up his search for Helen and turned around. He ran full speed in the direction Tess had gone. He needed to be with her. She was the one who was hurting now.

He found Tess at the village site kneeling on the grass. Impossible as it seemed, Helen had somehow managed to walk halfway up the steep hill before giving up.

Tess’s eyes filled with relief on sight of him.

“She’s still alive, but unconscious. I’ve put her on the carrier. Will you help me carry her horizontally?”

He nodded and took hold of one end as she took the other. Together they carried Helen the remaining hundred yards and placed her between the two mounds.

Tess knelt behind Helen’s head. Her hand gently rubbed Grams’ forehead. “You made it to the mounds, Grams. You’ve achieved your last objective.” Tess burst into tears as her body shook with grief. Steel dropped to his knees behind her and wrapped her in his arms, pulling her tight to his chest.

When his knees began to ache, he was tempted to stand, but then he heard the faint sound of Indian drums and chants. He thought it was only his imagination until Tess cocked her head as well.

“Do you hear that?” she whispered.

He nodded, and they both stood. She turned about, trying to find the direction of the chants. They seemed to be coming out of the ground covering the mounds.

As he stared at the apparent source of the sounds, the ghostly image of an old Indian wearing black bear fur rose from the bear mound and floated to Helen. He squatted down and placed a green stone on her forehead, painted her face with blue dye, and then stared up to the skies. His voice grew louder, almost like a plea to the Gods, then after a moment of silence he began a chant. While she couldn’t understand his words, Tess was certain he was wishing her a good future life.

When the soft spoken, almost musical chanting stopped, the man disappeared, as did the paint upon Gram’s face. The green stone, however, remained.

Tess touched Helen’s neck, then her wrist. “Gram’s is gone.” She turned and faced him. “You won’t believe what I thought I saw.”

“A Paleo-Indian in a bear skin placed a green stone on Helen’s forehead and gave her some sort of last rites.”

Tess smiled through her tears and nodded. Steel pulled her into his arms, trying to make sense of what had happened. He never believed in ghosts or spirits. The dead were dead and gone. There were no mummy curses.

Now, he wasn’t so sure. For Tess and him to see the same thing was inexplicable.

Tess stroked his chest. “We can take her home now. She wouldn’t want to mess up your archeological site.”

He kissed her hair. God he loved her. Even in grief, she still thought of him and his site.

Tess lifted the green stone from her Grams’ forehead and slipped it into her pocket. They slowly carried Helen down the hill. When they were almost home, Tess asked him to stop. “Can we say we found her here?” She pointed to a place beneath a large, old white oak.

He stared at the bed of leaves beneath the tree. To be honest, it did look as if someone had been here. “You okay?” he asked.

She looked up at him. “Oddly, I am. I don’t think she’s left me.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

Tess smiled. “I think she got the job she wanted.”

He tilted his head, still not understanding. Then he remembered Helen’s letter. “As your guardian angel?”

Tess’s smile widened as she nodded.

He approached her, offered his hand, and when she took it, he pulled her into his arms. He’d never believed in guardian angels either, but after what happened on the mound, he was keeping an open mind. “Well, you couldn’t get a better one.”

“No, we couldn’t.”

God, she was even willing to share her guardian angel with him
. He pressed his lips to her temple and held her tight.

***

Tess relaxed and enjoyed this moment of comfort. She had feared Steel wouldn’t believe Grams was still with them, but evidently, seeing a ghost at the mounds giving Grams her funeral rituals had left his mind open to the possibility.

Still it wasn’t until Tess had noticed this disturbed bed of leaves so close to the cabin that she realized Grams was still looking out for them. No one would believe a dying woman could have walked half the distance she’d done on her own. And while she may have made this bed before she walked all the way to the village, Tess wouldn’t have noticed it had a voice in her head not said,
“Here”
when they reached this spot.

“Should we move her onto the leaves?”

Steel paused, then nodded. “For a moment, so there’s trace DNA on the leaves and sticks, if anyone checks.”

Tess looked up at him. “They can get trace DNA off a leaf?”

“Trace DNA can exist on anything. I’ve no idea how easy it would be to extract from a bed of leaves, so let’s just play it safe and place her here for a bit. Then we can carry her inside. You wouldn’t leave her out here.”

She appreciated how well he already understood her. “No, I would bring her home.”

After a few minutes, they lifted her onto the carrier and took her back to the house.